The action begins ahead of schedule again, as a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour morning stint to recover some of the overs lost on the first day. The cricketers are preparing to begin play.
A Sea of Pink and a Display of Dominance
They do things well in Australia. On the first day of this fifth Test came a appropriate remembrance to the sufferers and heroes of the Bondi tragedy, and on the third day the Sydney Cricket Ground was transformed into a sea of pink to once again collect money for the McGrath Foundation.
Between the wickets, however, Australian benevolence was in far more limited availability. Across three sessions their batters dominated the English bowling, dispelling any doubts about their drive since securing the Ashes and posing a few more concerning their vanquished foes.
Faces flush from the ordeal, Ben Stokes and his team walked off at stumps seeing pink elephants. Steve Smith’s century number thirty-seven, 129 not out from 205 balls, had followed the concluding stages of Travis Head’s explosive 163 from 166, and with it Australia had reached 518 for seven from 124 overs. The lead sat at 134 runs overnight and looked an threatening one.
Veteran's Viewpoint
The renowned Neil Harvey, 97, shared his thoughts in a delightful interview.
I've been let down by England. I think the way they approach the batting side of things, they get too impetuous, nobody seems to want to build an innings, like a Cowdrey or a Boycott.
It might work against average opponents but when you get a quality outfit like Australia it's a different ballgame. I used to score runs relatively quickly, and everyone gets a lot of pleasure out of it, but when you try to play this Bazball style it reduces the chances of winning an important Test. I'd like to see them rein themselves in.
A Tough Introduction
Almost an hour into a quietly overcast morning at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Matt Potts was introduced into the England attack from the Randwick End, and immediately began trying out his different deliveries.
His first ball was full and wide and hammered through cover by Travis Head. His second ball was both back of a length and outside off and cut over gully by Travis Head. His third ball was on a good length and driven past midwicket by Travis Head. His fourth ball was defended with a show of studious defense, to jeering shouts from a crowd that had begun to tuck into the day. Welcome to the treadmill, Pottsy. And yes, it's always like this around here.
Scaling the Ashes Mountain
There was a time, while Steve Smith was at the pinnacle of his batting prowess, when “best since Bradman” was used with confidence. The thing about that line is that even when the recipient has excelled for years, it gets applied too quickly, given the point of comparison is a career lasting two decades. Lots of players hit their peak for a time, no other has remained there.
The blend of those phases, though, propelled him into a rare position on the third day. In the statistics of the game there are milestones, then there are peaks. For a long time in Smith's Ashes-focused career there have been two peaks drawing gradually closer in the mist. Donald Bradman's 5,028 runs against England is one that even Smith will never scale. Jack Hobbs's 3,636 runs against Australia is the one he overtook on Tuesday.
Preamble: A One-Sided Conclusion
The current Ashes battle, arguably the most anticlimactic series in the 144 years since Fred Spofforth raised hell at The Oval, is heading for a fitting conclusion. Australia are on course to defeat comprehensively England at Sydney and win the series 4-1, a scoreline not even the most one-eyed Pom could contest.
It's been a victory of maturity, maturity, skill, talent and Travis Head. His bold 123 at Perth hurt England that have yet to mend; four Tests later he is cheerily grinding salt into them. Head's seemingly relentless 163 helped Australia to 518 for 7 at the end of day three, a lead of 134. Steve Smith will continue on 129 after making a century that looked inevitable even before he faced his first ball.
Australia, despite a number of weaknesses in their team, have won the series with an comfort that is hard to fathom. Maybe that's an Pommy outlook. It's not Australia's fault that England did not show up – even if, on some level, they probably craved a greater challenge.
The concluding chapter will be conducted either this evening or tomorrow. There's a chance of a total collapse when England bat, just as there was in the concluding effort of 2013-14 and 2021-22. Their bodies are tired, their confidence shot, their spirit crushed. It's nearly time for everyone to go home.
